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For the first time this season I took in the fourth edition of soca star. In that episode the contestants had to perform their respective songs in front of a mostly appreciative crowd in St. James and receive criticism from the judges. The judges comprised of Paul Richards, Carl “Beaver” Henderson and Carol Jacobs and what struck me about their criticisms was that it was both honest and (gasp) constructive. As you may know, I previously followed Digicel Rising Star competition a few months ago and their judging wasn't terrible but seemed uneven being sometimes venomous and other times hinting at 'favouritism'. Both of these competitions have the same primary purpose, which is to make dollars on the heads of hapless struggling artistes. However, both of these competitions also have the same secondary purpose of trying to help these upcoming artistes so I think it would be useful to discern which competition makes the most sense to an artiste trying to advance his/her career.
So I'm going to rank each competition out of five in five categories (clever eh?) that are of use to a new artiste. These categories are "Career Advancement", "Improvement of Craft", "Embarrassment Factor", "Chance of Winning" and "Benefit of Winning". So without further ado...
Career Advancement
DRS: DRS completed its third season about three months ago and already it's hard to even remember the winners. All contestants had to jump through a perilous slew of hoops singing the hits of mostly foreign entertainers in an attempt to reward the vocalist who could mimic different vocal styles the best. Ironically enough, that contestant placed second but it would be like betting on the Lotto to guess what either of the top two would release to radio, if they ever do. Note to DRS: if you're going to make people sing foreign stuff at least organize a US recording contract nuh.
Score: 2/5
SSS: SSS has notoriously only been kind to the winners (excluding last year) with previous winners Fireball and Umi Marcano both becoming household names with hugely successful radio singles. However, it definitely sucks to be second although I guess this puts them almost square with American idol. Moral of the story: play to win.
Score: 3.5/5
Winner: Soca Star
Improvement of Craft
DRS: Both competitions have artiste development as their sub-mantra and one of the subversive hooks of each show (and every talent show invented) is the pleasure of watching contestants embarrass themselves. With DRS, this has been one of their selling points with one judge being aptly dubbed 'Judge Dredd'. Does all this criticism help? I guess they would like to think so although they totally destroy those with no inkling of talent while bathing those with talent in buckets of undeserved praise. Even so, I guess the hard-nosed approach is sometimes effective.
Score: 3/5
SSS: I can't speak for the other judges too much and I would love to know how Paul Richards ended up becoming a judge in the first place but that Carl 'Beaver' Henderson really seems to know what he's talking about. He's calm whether he's praising you or telling you that you're mess and is brave enough to nitpick a crowd-pleasing performance. SSS also seems to have more surprise winners than DRS so I guess SSS contestants have a greater propensity to improve. It also helps that SSS is more deliberate in their goal of improving artistes as well.
Score: 4/5
Winner: Soca Star
Embarrassment Factor
DRS: This section is scored lower the more likely you are to be embarrassed since embarrassment can often be an impediment to artistic growth. With that said, DRS is the real place to get embarrassed and is not for the weak of heart. I would assume that this would probably scare away good artistes who just haven't mastered their nerves yet.
Score: 1/5
SSS: Soca star can be fairly embarrassing too but mainly due to the fact that you're usually getting tongue-lashed by a man who regularly bats his eyelids. This is kinda expected in competitions but it's definitely easier to find a comfort zone in SSS since you're singing the same thing throughout the competition.
Score: 3/5
Winner: Soca Star
Chance of Winning
DRS: To win DRS, you have to be a master of singing multiple musical genres. This is no easy feat and I'm frankly amazed by a person like Meeda Ellis who is able to pull off the exaggerated wailings of Celine Dion as well as the deep baritone chanting of Maximus Dan. You often have no idea what they're going to throw at you so I would say the task of summing up your chances in DRS is more difficult. The sms voting system where one person can vote as much as they want is also one of the weirdest things I have ever heard.
Score: 2/5
SSS: In SSS you're working with one song so once you have a good song then you're in the game. Master your performance and your win book...almost. The sms voting factor can keep unlikely people on but then again...do they really check that?
Score: 3.5/5
Winner: Soca Star
Benefit of Winning
DRS: DRS gives you like $100000TT and a contract with a management company when you win. 10000 dookerans is a lot of money and a contract is a nice touch. As far as I know there has been no controversy receiving winnings either. Seems straight to me.
Score: 4/5
SSS: Now this is where SSS falls short. I fail to see how a Daihatsu Terios helps a struggling artiste and it is in really poor taste to not give out two in the event of a tie. Other aspects of the prize include a contract from Mastamind productions, which is a straight up company, and a video from synergy. Oddly enough, past winners Blu and OG have yet to see a video from Synergy as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong). That's just jacked up man.
Score: 2.5/5
Winner: Digicel Rising Star
So there you have it folks, Synergy Soca Star takes it easily. As Jayz said: "Men lie, women lie, numbers don't". If you don't agree feel free to comment and tell me. Da Face out.
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